SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

POLISCI 851

Why do people mobilize outside of routine political channels or institutions to pursue political change? How do we explain moments when people take to the streets or take up arms to accomplish their political goals? At the heart of these questions is one that has long formed a core of social science inquiry: how do scholars explain collective action, particularly in the face of often serious risks. Examine these questions through exploring leading theoretical themes in the study of social movements, revolutions, and riots. Explore how a variety of factors affect the where's, why's and how's of movement dynamics.

INTLST/POLISCI 325

An introduction to the major empirical and theoretical themes in the study of social movements and politics in Latin America. While it is impossible to cover every theoretical approach or Latin American case during the semester, the course should give students the tools to begin to think critically about where and why people engage in collective action. We will develop and hone these tools through thinking about Latin American cases, paying specific attention to revolutions, social movements, and riots. The course is designed in three parts. It begins by exposing students to the dominant theoretical paradigms in the study of contentious politics as well as some prominent critiques. The course then turns to empirical themes in Latin American revolutions, challenging students to use and question the theoretical tools to which they have already been exposed. The final part of the course looks to social movements in Latin America. Cases will focus on challenges to dictatorships, identity-based movements, and resistance to globalization.

HISTORY/INTLST 366

Investigates how everyday people shaped European history and politics, from World War I through today. Takes a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to analyze a range of major social movements in Europe, thinking in detail about what constitutes a social movement in the first place, and what determines its effectiveness. Key topics include the rise and fall of Fascism; the fate of the Communist and Socialist Left in Europe; the role of youth movements as drivers of change; and the constraints imposed on political organizing by both democratic and authoritarian societies. Drawing on a range of texts, songs, and films, investigates how people power has shaped the European state, and vice-versa, from 1922 through today.

INTLST/POLISCI 431

Social movements, revolutions, and riots continually shape and re-shape the world around us. The course will evaluate and apply dominant theoretical approaches to understanding contention through careful attention to empirical cases throughout the world.

CSCS 795

Enhance your collective ability to identify, describe, and analyze power and empowerment within communities and social, economic, and political systems. Enables us to more effectively and intentionally situate our praxis with regard to power and collective action. Centers on inquiries into the roles that power plays in collective action for community change and improvement, as well as the roles that it often plays in hindering such efforts and maintaining the status quo or defending elite interests.